Recently, the 2012 MLB post-season saw an unusual amount of last-minute heroic comebacks.
Some of the more notable ones were:
- Raul Ebanez, of the New York Yankees, hits a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to send the game into extra innings and then another one to win it in the 12th.
- Raul Ebanez hits a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie up another game.
- The St. Louis Cardinals were down 6-0 at one point in the last game of the first round of the playoffs. In the 9th inning, still down 2 runs, the Cardinals score 4 runs to win the game 9-7.
- The San Francisco Giants come back from being 1 game away from elimination to win 3 straight games in 2 consecutive series. Then they go on to win the World Series in 4 straight games.
Many other similar scenarios marked this year’s post-season.
My point is that most of these games were decided in the last inning of play. This places tremendous pressure on either the pitcher to win the game or the batter to get a hit in a do-or-die situation.
So, what enables some people to rise to the occasion and make things happen while others fold under the pressure?
One of the commentators said it best: “In these situations you have to decide: is the moment bigger than you or are you bigger than this moment?”
Being an author and teacher of the law of attraction, which is based on the premise that our thoughts create our reality, this phrase really resonated with me. Essentially, what it refers to is that some people are able to remain in control of their thoughts, maintaining a calm and confident mind-set while others succumb to the pressure of the situation at hand.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, the Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said the following about his club after their win in the first round of the 2012 playoffs: “They just don’t quit. I think that just says a lot about their character. They realized that no matter what is being said out there, no matter how many people count them out, they control their destiny.”
Paraphrasing the words of a Cardinals player during a recent interview, “When you get a Cardinal uniform you are taught to never give up. You just focus on doing your part. You expect to get a hit or walk to get on base.”
Personally, being from the Bay Area, I’m a San Francisco fan but I do love to see great baseball wherever it is played and I enjoy observing how people handle pressure situations. So, what makes some people succeed in these situations more than others? Is it a matter of skill or mind-set?
Michael Jordan, the great basketball player, one said that he expects to make the basket. In clutch situations, he said, he relied on the feeling of what it was like to be in that type of situation before, when he had been successful. He also remembered the touch of shooting the ball.
Could what the baseball teams described in this article and Michael Jordan’s explanations of his clutch success be more than skill? Could they be aligning or resonating with the energy of success?
With the law of attraction, you are able to align your thoughts and feelings with the energy of whatever you are thinking about much in the same way. You focus on your goal, then rely on the positive feeling of happiness or success that you have experienced in the past. Then you expect positive results. This is the Focus, Feel, and Expect process outlined in my book, Awaken Your Power.
I remember playing sports growing up and experiencing these types of moments. I had my share of both failures and successes. When the game is on the line and is up to you to win or lose it through your actions, it is easy to get overwhelmed with the enormity of the moment. But I can tell you from experience that you can also train yourself to expect to have a successful outcome and many times that becomes a huge factor in how things turn out.
When you do that, you align with expectation of success rather than the fear of failure. Does that mean you will succeed every time if you think the right way? Unfortunately, life doesn’t seem to work that way. We win some and we lose some, but those who expect to win are usually successful more often than those who don’t.
So, the lesson in this post is to expect to be successful in anything you do. If you fail, then learn from the loss and expect to be successful the next time. Use your mind to align with success and you will be giving yourself a competitive advantage over those who are worried they may fail.
After all, when the game is on the line, you are likely to have one of two thought processes: you can worry about failing, or you can expect to succeed.
Have a question or comment? Post in the comment section below. I ‘d love to hear from you.
Happy Manifesting…
No comments yet.